CNN’s Chalian: ‘There are People in This Government’ Who Are ‘Pretty Committed’ to Taking Trump Down

19 May 2017

While discussing the New York Times’ report that President Trump called FBI Director James Comey a “nutjob” and told Russian officials that firing Comey relieved “great pressure” on Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” CNN Political Director David Chalian argued the Trump White House does have a point about leaks, and that while “It’s not going to save them from their real legal and political troubles,” “there are people in this government who seem pretty committed to taking him down.”

Chalian began by saying, “We saw that the White House tried to explain what he meant by pressure was that the grandstanding and politicization of Comey put such pressure — nobody is going to buy that excuse. … They — clearly, the president is saying here that he felt pressure was alleviated on this investigation by getting rid of Comey. So, that’s going to be legal problem one, potentially.”

He continued, “Secondly, think about this, Wolf. This is extraordinary. This is the official government document of a meeting of the president of the United States and Russian officials inside the Oval Office, and it’s being read to a New York Times reporter. They have a point about leaks. It’s not going to save them from their real legal and political troubles, but it is extraordinary to see and another warning sign to Donald Trump that there are people in this government who seem pretty committed to taking him down.”

Later on, Chalian added that Trump has “gone back and forth” about his rationale for firing Comey.